Chapter 2: No Way

Listen to that. Did a human being actually say those words?

She was a diligent, hardworking tattoo shop employee of two years. How could she possibly be drumming up business for a sketchy place like an adult massage parlor?

Lured?

Zhou Yi stared at Mu Qinglin, numb.

Tsk. The expression looked convincing.

Really convincing.

Zhou Yi suddenly wasn’t so sure of herself. She fished through a few keywords in her memory.

Last winter. The junkyard. The massage parlor…

Standing still was freezing her solid. She instinctively pushed her hands deeper into her pockets to block more wind, but the medicine bag and buns were still dangling from her wrists. The motion did nothing except snag her sleeve and push it further up her arm.

When the cold wind started numbing her wrists, Zhou Yi’s memory gradually came flooding back.

There had been a day, hadn’t there? A day when she couldn’t stand Tang Yuanzhou’s mother-hen nagging anymore and left home on a whim, grabbing a coat on the way out.

It had been bitterly cold that day, and the coat happened to be a “local specialty” Tang Yuanzhou had brought back for her from his travels: thin as paper. She’d barely stepped out the door before she was frozen through. But she didn’t want to go back and get an earful from Tang Yuanzhou, so she’d tucked her hands in her sleeves and hidden in the junkyard.

It was a dead-end alley, the kind wind couldn’t even squeeze into. Geographically speaking, a prime spot.

In the alley lived the cats and dogs she let roam freely. They were strays that had wandered in from who-knows-where. Usually, they ate their fill and ran. That day, with lightning reflexes, she’d grabbed one to keep her company.

Or more precisely, to subject it to a one-sided verbal assault.

“Must be nice. Your filthy little face doesn’t even need washing. I wish I could be as shameless as you.”

“How are you this dirty? Did you sneak off to mine coal behind my back?”

“Manual labor must be tiring. Want some sausage?”

“Just one. That’s all you get.”

“You want me to feed you? Not a chance. This hand only knows how to press heads.”

“Heh, trying to bite me? Chip a tooth, did you?”

“…”

“So cold…”

“Facai, lend me your belly. Let me warm my hands.”

“You’re a stray cat. Does being this fat do justice to your station?”

“Hey hey, let’s talk this out! Don’t go!”

When she’d annoyed Facai and chased after it out of the alley, she’d still been hunched over with poor visibility and had slammed headfirst into someone’s leg. Only the other person’s solid footing saved them from being knocked over.

But in those few seconds she was hesitating over how to straighten up with awkward-but-polite dignity, something heavy pressed down on her head, shoving it another two inches lower.

It was Facai, who had failed its escape attempt and was trembling with terror.

With a pitiful meeeow, Facai’s claws clamped tight around both of Zhou Yi’s ears.

A buzzing sound drowned out the surrounding noise instantly. Zhou Yi froze in place, stuck in a near ninety-degree bow.

“Your cat?” A voice came from above.

Zhou Yi blinked, coming back to her senses. “Yes…”

She raised her hand and, with painstaking slowness, peeled Facai off her head. Then she pulled out, one by one, the strands of hair tangled in its claws that had just been ripped from her scalp, rubbing the spot afterward. Out of the corner of her eye, she finally noticed the stranger standing in front of her.

Clean, fluid contours. Features that were relaxed and generous. Even up close, there wasn’t a single jarring line.

Long, wavy hair fell mostly behind her shoulders, probably tousled by hand. A few stray strands lay across her forehead, which only sharpened the story-rich gravity that time had settled between her brows.

This kind of beautiful but never garish face was practically unseen in Red Gate Alley.

Still. Did being beautiful mean you could skip wearing a padded jacket?

In December, of all months. Just a coat and she stood with her frame loose and poised, back straight?

Zhou Yi casually tucked Facai against her stomach to hide the puffy down jacket’s slimming effect, while evaluating Mu Qinglin in her head: A good person, sure. But honestly, just return the cat. Don’t put it on her head. Would her back not have been good enough? What kind of problem is that?

Saying it out loud would come across as mean-spirited, so Zhou Yi held back and simply said, “Thank you.”

Mu Qinglin stepped aside to let her pass. “Watch it. Don’t let it run loose on the street. It darted right under my feet just now. If I hadn’t reacted fast, you’d be chasing after it to collect the body.”

Zhou Yi frowned. Facai wasn’t even four months old. If it really darted under someone’s feet, it would be a death sentence.

The flicker of displeasure in Zhou Yi’s chest vanished. “Got it. Thanks.”

She said it, then felt there was nothing left to discuss. She hoisted Facai onto her shoulder and let it burrow into her hood.

But Facai had just survived a near-death experience and its legs were still jelly. The moment Zhou Yi let go, it tumbled downward, paws flailing. Only Mu Qinglin, who’d been watching it the whole time, caught it in a quick scoop and settled it neatly into Zhou Yi’s hood.

Great. She hadn’t even turned her head and she’d already racked up another favor.

Zhou Yi felt it was ungracious to just walk off, so she struck up a conversation. “First time here?”

Mu Qinglin withdrew the index finger that Facai’s two soft paw pads had been pinching and rubbed it. “You can tell?”

Zhou Yi: “Not really. But there’s nobody on this street I don’t know. If there is, they’re definitely a first-timer.”

Mu Qinglin rather appreciated the undercurrent of shameless confidence in Zhou Yi’s words, so she didn’t stand on ceremony. “Know where the best tattoo shop on this street is?”

“Absolutely…” Zhou Yi snapped her fingers in her pocket and opened her mouth to speak, but something caught the corner of her eye. Her face changed. She blurted out, “I’d suggest you don’t go. It could be fatal!”

“It’s fine. If I die, I won’t hold you responsible,” Mu Qinglin said.

Zhou Yi blinked. “How is that my problem?”

Out of the corner of her eye, an agile figure was closing in fast.

Zhou Yi didn’t have time to sort it out. She grabbed a small slip of paper printed with an address from beneath the flyers on the wall and stuffed it into Mu Qinglin’s hand. “Right here!”

And with that, she scooped up Facai from the hood and bolted.

Looking back on it now, the whole picture was crystal clear.

The address on that slip of paper belonged to a rather disreputable Thai massage parlor.

But could she really be blamed?

The best tattoo shop in Red Gate Alley was theirs, bar none. She’d have loved to bring in more business.

Unfortunately, the reason she’d run away from home that day wasn’t just because Tang Yuanzhou was being annoying. She’d also had an IV drip going and the cold was too much on her arm, so she’d pulled the needle out herself.

When Tang Yuanzhou finished the tattoo session and discovered what she’d done, he’d come charging after her like he was going to bury her alive. She hardly dared bring anyone back to the shop to step on a landmine.

Never mind that the woman had just saved Facai’s life.

Maybe this was what they meant by good intentions paving the road to hell.

Zhou Yi sighed again and changed the subject. “Haven’t seen you around since then. Our shop isn’t hard to find.”

“Your shop?” Mu Qinglin laughed. “Do you have a feud with the boss? Business comes to your door and you push it away.”

Zhou Yi, following the principle that family scandals shouldn’t be aired in public, didn’t tell Mu Qinglin the truth. She just said, “Still want that tattoo? I’ll give you a one percent discount.”

Mu Qinglin: “Is that discount even better than just rounding down?”

Zhou Yi smiled: “While we’re still strangers, might as well hold on to a little reserve and sincerity.”

Mu Qinglin: “OK…” followed by, “Let’s go…”

With a sharp-tongued companion like this, at least the time would pass better than drinking alone.

Mu Qinglin thought.

Zhou Yi hummed in agreement and walked ahead to lead the way, shoulders hunched, neck tucked in, her pace sluggish. Slower than an old-timer on his rounds near retirement.

Watching from behind, Mu Qinglin had the inexplicable illusion that it would take until dawn to cover half a mile.

Fortunately, Red Gate Alley was only about 1.3 kilometers long.

“Here it is…” Zhou Yi stepped across the threshold. Without moving her hand, she pointed at the old sign overhead with sheer force of will. “The most badass tattoo shop on this street: Buddha Demon…”

Zhou Yi’s sentence was cut off mid-tail by a booming male voice from inside. “So you know how to come back!”

The shout startled Mu Qinglin so badly her foot froze in place on the step, agonizing over whether to keep going. After all, she’d never witnessed a “man-eating” scene with her own eyes.

Zhou Yi, on the other hand, calmly pulled out her noise-canceling headphones, put them on, and tugged her hood over her ears. The speed of it was nothing like her previous crawling pace.

Moments later, Tang Yuanzhou, buzz-cut and broad-shouldered, strode over to Zhou Yi. More practiced than she was, he flipped up the hood, ripped off the headphones, and bellowed, “All you had to do was buy cold medicine. How long were you gone? If the pharmacy owner hadn’t called to tell me you were alive and well, I would’ve thought you ran off to the fields to grow medicinal herbs!”

Zhou Yi’s disguise was exposed. She didn’t look happy about it.

Tang Yuanzhou snorted coldly, his temper still flaring. “Count how many colds you’ve had this year! At this rate, shouldn’t I buy you a coffin and hang it from the beam for standby?”

Zhou Yi leaned back against the doorframe, her speech slow and stubborn. “That’s so kind of you. And then you’d have to cry at my funeral, an old man like you.”

“You… Who are you?” Tang Yuanzhou’s aim suddenly swung toward Mu Qinglin, who had been quietly watching the show.

Tang Yuanzhou was pushing forty. He hadn’t picked up a single healthy habit, but his temper grew more explosive by the day. When he was in a bad mood, he bit anyone in range. Zhou Yi, worried Mu Qinglin would catch stray fire on her account, cut in first. “She’s here for a tattoo.”

Tang Yuanzhou ignored Zhou Yi. His gaze swept past her and locked onto Mu Qinglin. “Why do you look so familiar? It’s you!”

Tang Yuanzhou strode out, his expression animated. “Mu Qinglin! It’s been a year. I almost didn’t recognize you!”

Mu Qinglin smiled. “You’ve changed a lot too.”

“Whiter?” Tang Yuanzhou rubbed his chin, recalling. “When we met, I’d already been roasting under the southwestern sun for over two months. Black as the bottom of a pot.”

Mu Qinglin nodded. “Indeed…”

“Ha ha ha…” Tang Yuanzhou laughed. “Didn’t you say you’d come here as soon as you got back to Jiangping? Why’d it take a year?”

“Well…” Mu Qinglin’s gaze swept over Zhou Yi, who was thoroughly lost in the exchange. She smiled. “I did come. Just didn’t remember the house number. Got scammed into a massage parlor.”

Tang Yuanzhou seethed. “Those bastards!”

Zhou Yi: “…”

Who’s he cursing?

“Little Jiu, come meet someone,” Tang Yuanzhou said, turning back.

Zhou Yi didn’t have time to fix her expression. She was glaring at Mu Qinglin with a deeply unfriendly look, having just been sold out by her. Tang Yuanzhou caught it and his voice went icy. “What’s that look for? You’ve already forgotten about the landslide I ran into looking for inspiration last year?”

As if she could.

Even now, the thought sent a chill down her spine.

At the time, someone had paid Tang Yuanzhou top dollar for a design. He’d sketched for two whole months and still wasn’t satisfied, so he dropped the commission and headed to the southwestern border region in search of inspiration. In a place where you wouldn’t see a living soul for ten days or half a month, he ran headfirst into a landslide.

Trapped in a place like that, there was only one end: torn apart and devoured by wild beasts.

Fortunately, Tang Yuanzhou came back without a scratch.

He said someone had passed by and saved him.

“That someone was Mu Qinglin,” Tang Yuanzhou said.

Zhou Yi was surprised and couldn’t help stealing a few more glances at Mu Qinglin before straightening up and saying sincerely, “Thanks…”

Mu Qinglin had never thought much of the incident. To her, it was nothing more than a chance encounter.

“Think nothing of it,” Mu Qinglin said with a smile.

“Come on inside.” Tang Yuanzhou led Mu Qinglin in. “Logically, since I invited you, I should do the tattoo myself. But most of my work is Japanese traditional. Large pieces, exaggerated designs. Not many female customers are into that.”

Mu Qinglin: “Understood. No need to give me special treatment. Whichever artist is free, just assign them to me. Or…”

Mu Qinglin’s gaze drifted toward Zhou Yi.

Tang Yuanzhou said immediately, “Little Jiu won’t do! Her designs are valuable, but she has no craft.”

Mu Qinglin hadn’t been thinking of picking Zhou Yi. She’d only noticed she was shivering with cold and wanted to remind her that the plastic bags on her wrists had shoved her sleeves up to the sky.

Mu Qinglin felt deeply guilty. Tang Yuanzhou’s words had been far too blunt. Zhou Yi…

But Zhou Yi opened her mouth and her tone was just as persuasive. “Really. I’m a hack. Can’t even cut a straight line.”

“…” Remarkable mental fortitude.

Mu Qinglin’s interest was suddenly piqued.

“My standards aren’t high,” Mu Qinglin said.

Zhou Yi glanced at her, then turned and walked over to the chair beside the electric radiator. She sat down, leaned back to tip the front two legs off the ground with practiced ease, and said unhurriedly, “With my skill level and current condition, if a sneeze makes my hand shake and ruins your skin, even Tang Yuanzhou would have to sweat to cover it up. Make up your mind before you commit. If you’re not scared, come on over.”

Mu Qinglin stepped closer. “How bad is the worst case?”

“Only…” Zhou Yi suddenly smelled something burning. Without a word, she pulled her foot back from where it had been jammed against the radiator. Staring at the small patch of melted leather on the toe of her shoe, she said with genuine heartbreak, “The kind where, for the rest of your life, every time you think of me, you’ll want to bite me to death.”