Chapter 12: The Past

Yang Ling was doubled over with laughter at the scene before her. “Qinglin, you don’t know this about Little Jiu. When she eats, no matter how full she is, she always thinks she’s one bite short. She’s doing it on purpose. Before, it was just the three of us. Yuanzhou and I never indulged her bad habits. But today you’re here. Hahaha! You get to serve her. I genuinely cannot eat another bite. Yuanzhou, how about you?”

Tang Yuanzhou’s face was contorted with suppressed laughter. “I’ve got room for one sip of liquor left, nothing more. Mu Qinglin, you took this on. Figure it out.”

Mu Qinglin felt a faint urge to throw in the towel, mixed with a bit of resignation.

Living with these two, Zhou Yi’s personality could honestly get even more infuriating.

…

After a while, Mu Qinglin surrendered with a sigh and placed the spinach into Zhou Yi’s bowl.

Zhou Yi dug through the bowl with gusto and then sent the bulk of the stalk back to Mu Qinglin’s side. She even turned her head and gave Mu Qinglin a sweet smile, saying: “Thank you…”

Mu Qinglin couldn’t bear it. Her gaze struggled across Zhou Yi’s bowl. “…”

If she’d left herself even two leaves, Mu Qinglin would have believed the whole act.

“You two take your time eating. Lingling and I are going to sit in the living room. Staying here watching is making me feel stuffed,” Tang Yuanzhou said.

Mu Qinglin wanted to say I’m no better off than you, but before the words came out, her peripheral vision caught a sneaky paw creeping toward her from below.

The nerves in Mu Qinglin’s leg went rigid. She firmly declared to the two spectators who were enjoying the show: “I will absolutely eat to the end with Teacher Jiu.”

The moment the words landed, Mu Qinglin hastily glanced down.

Good. The paw had vanished. But this food…

“Zhou Yi, did I wrong you in a past life?” Mu Qinglin asked seriously.

Zhou Yi said nothing. She stuffed the leaf into her mouth and chewed with meticulous care.

Mu Qinglin didn’t remember how she’d made it from the table to the bathroom in one piece. She only knew one bad burp and she’d throw up on the spot. Zhou Yi, on the other hand, had eaten to exactly the right amount, not a bite more or less, and looked completely refreshed.

“You okay?” Yang Ling, who was tidying up the table, asked as Mu Qinglin steadied herself against the wall. Half concern, half entertainment.

Mu Qinglin waved her hand, too spent for a full sentence.

“Go rest. I’ll handle the rest,” Yang Ling said.

Mu Qinglin: “Sorry about this. All eating and no helping.”

“Nonsense. I invited you. You think I’d make you work? Go on.”

“Mm…”

The living room had only Tang Yuanzhou in it.

He was sketching on a drawing board.

“Where’s Zhou Yi?” Mu Qinglin asked casually.

Tang Yuanzhou tilted his head toward the outside. “Carrying a bag of apples. Off to celebrate Christmas Eve with Facai and the rest.”

Mu Qinglin: “Alone?” Zhou Yi caused trouble even when sober. Now she was drunk. How could anyone let her out?

Tang Yuanzhou explained: “Little Hei’s with her.”

That was acceptable.

Besides, Tang Yuanzhou was sitting right by the window. A glance over the shoulder would show what was happening outside.

Mu Qinglin walked over and leaned against the wall not far from Tang Yuanzhou.

From here she could see outside too. Zhou Yi was crouching at the mouth of the alley across the way. A big bag of apples sat at her feet, and a ring of cats and dogs circled around her. She was playing “Eeny, meeny, miny, moe” and handing an apple to whoever the rhyme landed on.

Mu Qinglin watched for a while and noticed she picked herself most often.

That was very on-brand for Zhou Yi.

…

Suddenly, she saw a man walk straight up to Zhou Yi and crouch down beside her. Mu Qinglin’s lazy posture shifted.

Tang Yuanzhou followed her gaze and said, “It’s fine. That’s Lu Chang, from West End Bar.”

Mu Qinglin remembered. He’d asked her to deliver a cake to Zhou Yi once.

“Zhou Yi calls him Brother?” Mu Qinglin asked.

The question slipped out loosened by the alcohol. In the past, she wouldn’t have asked the same question twice, to two different people. The nosiness was too obvious.

But Tang Yuanzhou didn’t dodge. “Mm. About five or six years ago, Lu Chang had just come of age. He brought his young sister to Red Gate Alley to make a living. Strangers in an unfamiliar place, easy targets for anyone. The two of them never knew where their next meal was coming from. Life was brutal. Eventually, Lu Chang fought his way to a reputation in the bar by being absolutely fearless in a brawl. He caught the boss’s eye and started earning some money, and the siblings’ lives gradually improved.

But nothing in this world comes for free. Those days, the bruises on Lu Chang’s face never fully healed. His sister was still young, and he was afraid of scaring her, so he ended up living at the bar day in and day out. One time he was away too long, and when he could finally go back, she was already gone. All these years, Lu Chang has done every shady thing under the sun to earn money and find his sister. He’s only genuine with Little Jiu.”

Same street, different fates. All Mu Qinglin could offer was sympathy. She lowered her gaze to Lu Chang handing Zhou Yi an apple and asked, “Why be good to Zhou Yi specifically?”

Tang Yuanzhou’s pen paused. He sat up and looked outside. “I told you I found Little Jiu at the junkyard, right?”

Mu Qinglin: “You did…”

“Actually, it was Lingling who found her first, when she was taking out the trash. Little Jiu, she…” Tang Yuanzhou spun the pen in his hand, his tone no longer as calm. “She had bruises all over, big and small, layered on top of each other. All in places you couldn’t see. Those were survivable. The ones on her neck were shallow cuts that nearly killed her.”

The July and August heat was unbearable. What should have been minor scrapes, healing on their own in four or five days, had festered on Zhou Yi’s neck into raw, swollen, horrifying infection.

“At his lowest, Lu Chang couldn’t afford antiseptic. A small scrape on his sister’s leg led to amputation. He’s carried that guilt ever since. Being good to Little Jiu might be his way of making up for it. Their situations were similar in a way: both a minor injury that spiraled into something serious. But Little Jiu pulled through, and his sister… well.” Tang Yuanzhou sighed. “Because of the resemblance, it’s easy to latch onto Little Jiu as an emotional anchor. After all, if he can still deliver the cake his sister loved, he can hold onto the hope of seeing her again someday.”

“Does Zhou Yi know all this?” Mu Qinglin asked.

Tang Yuanzhou: “Of course. Why else would she accept Lu Chang’s cakes? She hates cream cakes. Thinks they’re too rich. But she always takes a few bites of the ones Lu Chang brings before throwing them out. And she always finds some high-sounding excuse to have someone else do it. You’ve thrown one out for her before, haven’t you?”

Mu Qinglin nodded. “I have…”

At the time, she’d assumed Zhou Yi was just being ungrateful, taking food from people and then complaining about it. She never imagined there was so much behind it.

Yang Ling had been right. Zhou Yi did know how to look after people, even if she wasn’t always willing.

Mu Qinglin’s brow creased. She couldn’t help asking: “Where did those injuries come from?”

“No idea. Red Gate Alley is tiny as a flea. The slightest wind and everyone knows. If she’d gotten them here, I would have heard. She must have come already hurt.”

Tang Yuanzhou said: “But she doesn’t talk about the past, and we don’t push. They’ve all faded by now, and not asking keeps things lighter.”

Mu Qinglin: “Fair enough…”

The silence stretched.

Mu Qinglin watched Lu Chang walk away. Zhou Yi hadn’t said a word the whole time, hadn’t even looked up at him once.

“Little Jiu pities Lu Chang, but she doesn’t like him,” Tang Yuanzhou said.

That much was obvious.

The day the cake was delivered, when Lu Chang came up, Zhou Yi had offered nothing beyond a furrowed brow and a flat “him.”

“Because Lu Chang only sees her as an emotional anchor?” Mu Qinglin asked.

Tang Yuanzhou: “No. Lu Chang is genuinely good to her.”

“Then why?”

“The way Lu Chang earns money isn’t clean. Little Jiu is afraid he’ll get into trouble sooner or later. He won’t listen when she tells him, so every time she sees him, she pulls a long face and refuses to talk properly.”

“If Lu Chang had another way to make money, would he still be like this?”

“He doesn’t have another way.”

After saying this, Tang Yuanzhou changed the subject and gave Mu Qinglin a warning: “Don’t mention any of this to Little Jiu. What’s past is past, and I can’t do anything about it anymore. All I care about is that she’s okay going forward. If she’s got the chops to tear the roof off my house, let her. If not, then let her kick up whatever fuss she wants. People have to keep moving forward. Little Jiu has already done that.”

Mu Qinglin turned to him. “If that’s the case, why tell me? Wouldn’t it be better with one less person knowing?”

The gloom vanished from Tang Yuanzhou’s face. He leaned his shoulder against the wall and grinned mischievously. “Little Jiu has no friends. One more person for her to torment means Lingling and I suffer less. Why wouldn’t I?”

“You two are really on the same wavelength,” Mu Qinglin said, rubbing her temples. “I shouldn’t have picked up that cat for her in the first place.”

Tang Yuanzhou shrugged easily. “It’s too late for that now. Look, even drunk, Little Jiu knows to come to you for help. Mu Qinglin, you’re not getting away.”

She hadn’t intended to run. She just wasn’t sure her heart could take it long-term.

“Look, she’s calling for you again,” Tang Yuanzhou said, chin pointing outside.

“Hm?” Mu Qinglin followed Tang Yuanzhou’s line of sight and turned her head.

Drunk Jiu was still crouching in the alley. Seeing Mu Qinglin look over, she raised her hand and beckoned with a cool little finger curl.

“…” Why did she act even more cocky when drunk?

Mu Qinglin didn’t respond to Zhou Yi. She straightened up and told Tang Yuanzhou, “I’ll go check.”

“Go ahead…” Tang Yuanzhou’s attention had already returned to his drawing board.

Outside, the snow had nearly stopped. The wind cut through with biting cold.

Mu Qinglin walked over and crouched beside Zhou Yi. “Teacher Jiu, what are your orders?”

Teacher Jiu glanced at her, then flopped back down on her knees and resumed the headcount.

Mu Qinglin was baffled.

Did Teacher Jiu call her over just to show off the breadth of her domain?

Mu Qinglin carefully counted the cat heads and dog heads.

Well, thirteen. A truly formidable territory. All thanks to Teacher Jiu’s diligent governance.

“Meow…” Facai recognized Mu Qinglin and promptly abandoned Zhou Yi, nuzzling Mu Qinglin’s ankle and begging for attention.

Mu Qinglin was flattered and tried to borrow a piece of apple from Zhou Yi to repay Facai.

But Zhou Yi saw through the scheme. She swept her hand and scattered every remaining piece.

She was wrong about Zhou Yi. The girl looked like a hedgehog on the outside, but she had the soul of a dog.

Mu Qinglin had to resort to rummaging in her own pockets.

Not bad. She had the reporter’s profession to thank. There was still a pack of cookies in her pocket.

Carrying snacks was a long-standing personal habit. Sometimes a sudden field assignment kept her out for hours with no time to eat, and without some provisions she wouldn’t make it.

Mu Qinglin tore open the cookie pack, broke off a piece, and tossed it at Facai’s feet.

Facai sniffed it, then meowed insistently for Mu Qinglin to hand-feed it, just like last time.

Mu Qinglin laughed. “Didn’t I tell you? This hand only does head pats.”

She rubbed her fingers and extended one toward the top of Facai’s head.

Just before contact, she noticed a certain someone beside her watching intently.

Mu Qinglin held still and turned to look at Zhou Yi.

She was staring at the cookie in Mu Qinglin’s hand.

“Want some?” Mu Qinglin held it out a bit further.

Zhou Yi blinked and looked up to meet Mu Qinglin’s gaze. “Are you going to pat my head too?”

What kind of question was that?

People and cats weren’t the same.

Even if she wanted to pat Zhou Yi’s head, she’d have to dare.

A bizarrely well-practiced cowardice.

Mu Qinglin wasn’t satisfied. She was about to say “yes” when her gaze caught on the strip of Zhou Yi’s neck that had slipped free, careless from the drink.

She was very fair, her skin smooth and fine. There wasn’t a trace of anything extra visible.

If Tang Yuanzhou hadn’t spoken up, who would have thought this was where she’d been hurt, where it had festered, where she’d nearly lost her life?

Just a few shallow scrapes. How long had it been left, how dire the circumstances, for things to turn out like that?

Mu Qinglin pulled her hand back and looked into Zhou Yi’s eyes. “No…”

Zhou Yi stared at Mu Qinglin without moving and gave her two familiar words with perfect clarity: “Liar…”

Mu Qinglin chuckled softly. “I’m not lying. Facai’s a stray from the street. I tease it for fun. You…”

Mu Qinglin’s sudden pause teased Zhou Yi along. Those bright, wine-tinged eyes locked onto Mu Qinglin, waiting for her to finish.

Mu Qinglin raised her hand and flicked a finger against the tip of Zhou Yi’s cold-reddened nose, saying with a smile: “You’re just a hard-to-please little kid.”