Jiang Mu certainly couldn’t bring herself to perform a shameful ballet in front of two grown men. How could she have known that her playful banter with San Lai would be overheard by the very person she was talking about? If she had known that Jin Chao was upstairs the whole time, she wouldn’t have said a word.
But now that it had already happened, all she could do was meekly blush and shuffle toward the corner where San Lai was. San Lai, on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying the show, his expression one of someone who had no qualms about causing a little trouble. Clearly, Jiang Mu’s awkwardness had brought him some amusement on a Sunday morning.
Speaking of which, Jin Chao had seen Jiang Mu do ballet before. Back when she was in kindergarten, Jiang Yinghan had enrolled her for a dance class. Jin Chao had gone with Jin Qiang to pick her up. She had been wearing a pink dress, and white tights, and was among a group of other little kids, all with their hair tied in pigtails, her face serious with concentration. At that time, she was chubby and adorable, her legs wrapped in white tights, cute enough to make anyone want to pinch her cheeks. She had looked like a little fluffy swan.
Jin Chao still remembered the way she used to run around, shaking her head and swaying to the music. He couldn’t help but feel a smile tug at his lips when he thought of it. Jiang Mu felt incredibly self-conscious under his gaze, but he didn’t linger long and soon went to open the car repair shop.
Meanwhile, Xiao Yang and Tie Gongji still treated Jiang Mu the same way, cracking jokes and teasing her. At lunchtime, they even ordered food for her. When Jiang Mu went to eat in the car repair shop, Jin Chao didn’t say much, he simply told her after the meal, “Finish up and go back early.”
Jiang Mu, feeling a bit feisty, replied, “My long legs, my rules.”
Jin Chao glanced at her, pursed his lips, and returned to his work.
In the afternoon, Jiang Mu searched for a bubble tea shop, asked around for recommendations, and headed out to buy some.
Since moving to Tonggang, she had indeed reduced her takeout orders. Without many extracurricular activities, her only relaxation from studying was going out to buy things.
It was almost like completing a task, deciding on a destination, and then enjoying the unfamiliar street scenes along the way. Perhaps it was because she found her usual routine too dull. Sometimes, when two dogs were fighting, she would stop and watch for a while. If she happened to come across an unusual building or a street vendor she hadn’t seen before, she would stop and observe.
This kind of exploration brought a small sense of novelty to her otherwise monotonous studying life. As a result, an hour passed, and she still hadn’t come back.
Jin Chao had just finished reversing the freshly painted car and got out to ask Xiao Yang, “Where did Mu Mu go?”
Xiao Yang replied, “She went to buy bubble tea.”
“Been gone that long?”
Xiao Yang checked his phone and said in surprise, “Yeah, seems like it.”
Jiang Mu had indeed gone to buy bubble tea, but on her way back, she had stumbled upon a group of old men playing chess. Naturally, she stopped and watched for a while. Just then, one of the old men had to go to the bathroom urgently and asked if anyone nearby could take over his game. Seeing how urgently the old man seemed to need to go, Jiang Mu volunteered.
The old man, seeing that she was a young girl, asked, “Do you know how to play?”
Jiang Mu was pretty adept at all sorts of games, chess, Go, military chess, even Five-in-a-Row, Double Bees, and Ludo. It probably came from Jin Chao’s influence when they were kids. His biggest hobbies, aside from racing toy cars with people at the model store, were reading and playing chess. But he couldn’t play chess alone, so he would drag the little Jiang Mu along to play with him. She didn’t understand the game at first, but he would patiently teach her over and over. Of course, a childlike Jiang Mu had little patience, so she would often end up falling asleep halfway through the game, drooling all over the chessboard and leaving little slobber stains on her chubby arms.
What was surprising was that during her last year of kindergarten, when the school held a little Go competition, Jiang Mu unexpectedly won first place. After that, she developed a strong interest in playing chess.
So, when Jin Chao found her, she was sitting by the side of the road, legs crossed, facing an elderly man wearing a thick winter coat. She was resting her chin in one hand, looking quite mature for her age.
Jiang Mu had the feeling that someone across the street was staring at her. Without thinking, she glanced up and saw Jin Chao leaning against the stone bridge, a cigarette in hand. She didn’t know how long he had been standing there, but the sight startled her so much that she quickly dropped the chess pieces, grabbed her bubble tea, and said, “I’m done, I need to go.”
The old man wasn’t done yet and kept calling her back, “What’s the rush? Let’s play another round.”
Jiang Mu awkwardly smiled and replied, “Next time, next time.”
Then, she hurried across the street, and Jin Chao extinguished his cigarette, turned around, and started walking back. Jiang Mu followed him closely, asking, “Were you looking for me?”
“No.”
“Don’t tell me you’re worried I’ll get lost.”
“No.”
“If I did get lost, would you be worried?”
Silence.
Jiang Mu watched as Jin Chao’s pace quickened, muttering quietly, “Hard on the outside, soft on the inside.”
Suddenly, Jin Chao stopped and turned around, his sharp gaze sweeping over her, “I’ve got a much better temper now. Otherwise, you’d already be in the river.”
Jiang Mu saw his face turn serious again but wasn’t scared. She reached up and grabbed his sleeve, giving it a little shake, and smiled at him. Her small, reddened nose from the cold made her whole face seem brighter and more cheerful. Jin Chao glanced away and pulled his arm back.
Once back at the car repair shop, Jin Chao went out to deliver a car to a customer. Tie Gongji went off to buy some parts, and Jiang Mu went back to the lounge to read. Around four in the afternoon, Xiao Yang, who had been busy in the repair shop, suddenly cursed, “Get out of here!”
Jiang Mu quickly stood up and walked out. As soon as she stepped into the repair shop, the pungent smell of paint hit her nose. When she reached the door, she saw that the care repair shop entrance had been splashed with a large amount of red paint. The terrible stench filled the air, and the bright red paint, like blood, had turned the clean doorway into a gruesome sight.
Xiao Yang was standing outside the repair shop, glaring fiercely at the street. Jiang Mu followed his gaze and saw two young men standing at the edge of the road, wearing smug, malicious grins.
Jiang Mu’s temper flared immediately. San Lai also came out of the shop, cursing loudly, “Broad daylight, minding other people’s business, doing shady stuff. Damn it.”
Jiang Mu asked, “Is it people from Wanji?”
Xiao Yang responded angrily, “Who else could it be?”
It had been just over a month since these people last caused trouble. This time, they hadn’t broken anything; they had gone straight to splashing paint. Just as San Lai had said, while it wasn’t murder or robbery, the act of doing things like this was enough to make anyone disgusted.
Lightning was still pacing in front of the car repair shop, barking furiously at the two men. His paws were covered in red paint, leaving prints all over the ground.
Jiang Mu squatted down and called out to him, “Lightning.”
When Lightning heard Jiang Mu’s voice, he turned back around. She whispered a few words to him, gave him a light tap on his rear, and Lightning suddenly sprinted towards the two men. The men, seeing the situation turn against them, hadn’t even had a chance to get into their car before Lightning had pounced on them. His paws, covered in red paint, left marks all over their bodies. Cursing loudly, the two men scrambled into their car and sped off.
Lightning barked at the car as it drove away, then quickly ran back to Jiang Mu. She patted his head and started wiping his paws, while Xiao Yang quickly found some cleaning supplies to wash the door area. San Lai worried that Lightning might lick the paint and get poisoned, so he took out some pet shampoo and helped clean him up, even trimming the fur where the paint wouldn’t come off.
By the time Jin Chao and Tie Gongji returned, Xiao Yang had managed to clean most of the mess. Although the red paint no longer looked as alarming, it still couldn’t be fully removed.
Xiao Yang, still angry, recounted the events. Jin Chao’s face was grim, but compared to Xiao Yang’s righteous indignation, there wasn’t much emotion in Jin Chao’s demeanor, except for a sharpness in his eyes. He just patted Xiao Yang on the shoulder and said, “Be patient.”
Later, Xiao Yang, in a moment of satisfaction, began to talk about Lightning’s “heroic” deed, even asking Jiang Mu, “How did you get him to pounce on them?”
Jiang Mu, holding Lightning’s big head, pulled a piece of jerky out of her pocket and offered it to him. Xiao Yang immediately laughed, “You sure have your ways.”
Jin Chao’s gaze turned to her thoughtfully. Jiang Mu met his eyes briefly before he quickly looked away and headed into the repair shop.
Jiang Mu, however, felt that this couldn’t go on. The people from Wanji were like stubborn, sticky pests, coming over every now and then to cause trouble and disrupt the business. From what she had learned over the past few days, Wanji had several large stores in Tonggang, which meant they had some level of power. If they really wanted to take Jin Chao down, dragging things out like this could suffocate quickly.
The ongoing conflict between Jin Chao and Wanji had become a persistent source of trouble. As long as that wasn’t resolved, these disgusting incidents would continue to occur. It was obvious that the people from Wanji didn’t want to let Jin Chao have a peaceful time, and who knew what they might do next?
This matter lingered in Jiang Mu’s mind. One day, when she brought it up with San Lai, he scolded her, telling her it wasn’t something she should worry about.
For a while, things remained in this state. Although Jiang Mu no longer brought her homework and materials to stay all day like before, she still came by whenever she had some free time.
Xiao Yang, Tie Gongji, and even San Lai were all quite warm toward her, but Jin Chao remained cold, even colder than when she had first arrived in Tonggang.
If the Jin Chao she had met when they reunited had felt distant and unfamiliar, the Jin Chao now was like a solid block of ice, completely impenetrable with no cracks to break through.
Sometimes, when she stood in the repair shop chatting with Xiao Yang, she would get the cold shoulder from Jin Chao. Out of nowhere, he’d throw her an icy glance and say in a harsh tone, “Don’t you have anything else to do? If you’ve got nothing, go take a walk, don’t get in the way here.”
And then Jiang Mu would really leave, going to meet the old men for a game of chess, coming back when she was hungry to eat.
The benefit of playing chess with the elderly, as opposed to socializing with people her own age, was that there was no need for awkward small talk or social anxiety. You just sat down and played, and when the game was over, just left. Sometimes, if an old man nearby started talking too much, the one she was playing with would even scold him.
But even this peculiar hobby of hers baffled someone as open-minded as San Lai. He once asked Jin Chao, “Isn’t your little sister prematurely aging? How did she manage to break into that mysterious organization of retired old cadres in Xiwawo all by herself?”
Jin Chao didn’t respond, but somehow, he felt this situation was linked to him.
This continued until one day when San Lai suddenly cut off his long hair and shaved the beard that had always been on his face. When he came by the repair shop to find Jin Chao and have a cigarette, not only did Xiao Yang and Tie Gongji get a shock, but even Jin Chao stared at him, confused, and said, “What’s going on with you?”
San Lai chuckled, “Mu Mu said I look fresher like this.”
He casually tossed a cigarette to Jin Chao, who took it and lit it without saying a word, glancing at San Lai.
Recently, Jin Chao hadn’t been giving Jiang Mu much of a warm reception. She had been visiting San Lai quite often, sometimes staying for an hour or two. San Lai didn’t hold back either and even asked her to help bathe the cats and dogs, never treating her like an outsider. San Lai could talk for hours, and Jin Chao, working near the door, often heard their laughter echoing from the pet shop next door.
What Jin Chao hadn’t expected was that after all these years, San Lai, who had kept his long hair, would suddenly cut it just because of one comment from Jiang Mu. After a while, Jin Chao looked at San Lai again and San Lai smiled, running his hand through his new short hair and asked, “So, how do I look? Still as handsome as before?”
Jin Chao didn’t respond, silently flicking his cigarette butt away.
On Friday evening, as Jiang Mu was getting off the 6 bus, San Lai spotted her and immediately walked out, ready to receive her praise.
However, after striking a pose, Jiang Mu walked right past him without recognizing him.
Xiao Yang and Tie Gongji burst into laughter, and it was only then that Jiang Mu realized something was off. She turned around to look at the man striking poses on the street.
Jiang Mu, who was a bit nearsighted, didn’t immediately recognize him. The difference between San Lai’s new, cleaner look and his old, disheveled style was huge. She squinted at him for a good half a minute before her lips parted in surprise, “Brother San Lai?”
San Lai finally felt that standing there for so long wasn’t in vain. He tried to casually flick his bangs, only to realize there was nothing left to flick. He awkwardly stopped mid-motion, then walked over to Jiang Mu and asked, “How is it?”
Jiang Mu seriously examined him. San Lai was fairly slender, not short, about 1.8 meters tall but he usually slouched in slippers with a lazy, half-awake demeanor. Jiang Mu never really considered him a “handsome guy.”
But seeing his face now, with no hair or beard, really caught her attention. She finally understood why San Lai kept himself scruffy as his features were genuinely striking and well-proportioned. With a little eyeliner, he could definitely pass for a flower boy. His delicate features had a subtle, almost feminine beauty, and the beard had indeed added some ruggedness.
However, San Lai’s carefree personality and style made him a naturally charming rogue.
Perhaps to match his new look, his wardrobe had changed too. He was no longer sloppy and became much more put-together. Jiang Mu immediately laughed and exclaimed, “San Lai, did you get plastic surgery? Is this really how you looked before? I feel like I’m meeting a whole new person!”
San Lai, seeing her reaction, enjoyed it thoroughly and proudly lifted his chin.
Meanwhile, Jin Chao heard Jiang Mu’s voice and turned to look. He saw her circling around San Lai like she had just discovered something new and exciting. Eventually, she followed him back into the store.
Jin Chao spit out his gum, slowly removed his gloves, and walked over to the sink to wash his hands with soap twice. Then, heading to the lounge, he said to Xiao Yang, “Go next door and call Jiang Mu back.”
Xiao Yang poked his head in and called, “Jiang Mu.”
Jiang Mu hadn’t even sat down yet, but when she heard Xiao Yang’s voice, she walked out of the pet shop again. She had been chatting with San Lai about something and was still smiling, asking, “What’s up?”
Xiao Yang jerked his chin toward the lounge, signaling her to go in. Jiang Mu didn’t quite understand, but she walked towards the lounge. As soon as she opened the door, she saw Jin Chao sitting on a chair with his legs crossed. This was the first time in days that Jin Chao had taken the initiative to approach her, and Jiang Mu was a bit surprised.
When he saw her come in, Jin Chao lifted his eyelids and said, “Close the door.”
Jiang Mu turned around and shut the door behind her. Xiao Yang and Tie Gongji peered through the break room glass, but Jin Chao glanced at them before reaching up and pulling a cord. The curtains in the break room immediately dropped down. Jiang Mu had never noticed that there were curtains on the window of the break room. She had a hunch that Jin Chao was about to say something to her, but she couldn’t guess what it was. She could only stay by the wall, her eyes fixed on him.