Chapter 38: Smile

“A lot. Take the Tang Family, for instance. The Condensing Talismans and Wind-stopping Cotton they sell are practical, affordable items specifically designed for protecting the lake. The price is benchmarked against… benchmarked against their Nanyun White Medicine. In recent years, the prices of their other goods have become increasingly exorbitant. The only things they consistently sell very cheaply are items that can disgust the Lake Cutters. Perhaps it’s not a bad thing after all that the Lake Cutter gave the Tang Family such a thorough, bitter lesson. It could also be seen as securing some benefits for the rest of the Inner Circle.” Miss Ah Qiao sighed.

“Nanyun White Medicine belongs to the Tang Family?” Qi Ran was flabbergasted. The Tang Family she had heard about from Jiang Zhique was mostly portrayed with a mysterious and powerful image. Yet, learning that the Nanyun White Medicine was theirs instantly stripped away that mystical veneer. After a moment’s thought, she voiced her doubt, “But I remember that company for Nanyun White Medicine… isn’t it a state-owned enterprise?”

“The Tang Family is originally a prominent house specializing in herbal medicine,” Miss Ah Qiao shook her head, her expression slightly odd. “That aside, why would you think the Tang Family isn’t state-owned?”

Qi Ran was stunned. “The Tang Family is a state-owned enterprise?”

In her impression, the Tang Family’s image was clearly that of a warlord figure from the Republic of China era, roaming the gray edges, cold-faced and arrogantly flaunting their power. Like Lu Erye from that classic, old-fashioned Republican-era movie, ‘Papaverum,’ they all wore sunglasses and slicked-back hair, dressed in deep black long gowns that, when pulled open, revealed a full array of hidden weapons underneath… Perhaps they even had a folding fan they never left behind, which when unfurled, likely displayed insolent short phrases like ‘Money’s No Object’ or ‘Heaven-Sent Talent.’

How could such a prison-bait-style organization be a state-owned enterprise?

“Of course, it’s a state-owned enterprise. When it comes to understanding the times, if the Tang Family says they’re second, no one dares claim to be first.”

Miss Ah Qiao tapped her fingers on the railing, sighing deeply as she lamented: “Think about it. They are the sole prominent family in Southwest China, rated as an Outstanding Model Special Enterprise Model by the higher-ups for seven consecutive years. The only year interrupted was because of the Lake Cutter. Without that Lake Cutter, the Tang Family would have been rated Outstanding Model Special Enterprise Model for thirty-one consecutive years. They unconditionally obey policy deployments. If the higher-ups say ‘go left,’ they wouldn’t so much as glance to the right. When the Executor system first emerged, before other families could even figure it out, the Executor positions in Southwest China were already fully filled—all Tang Family members, to a man. A circle-affiliated enterprise like that… do you really think it could be merely a private company?”

Listening, Qi Ran couldn’t help but stare, slightly dumbfounded. She had to admit, the image she had of the Tang Family had completely plunged into an indescribable abyss.

As Miss Ah Qiao spoke, her voice suddenly lowered slightly.

“…If the Tao Family had even half the Tang Family’s sense of the times, they probably wouldn’t have met such an end.”

Qi Ran leaned back against the railing and sat down. This rooftop was exactly like the one in the old residential complex she remembered living in with Qi Jianguo—the dust, the noise, the peeling plaster on the walls, and the many words and phrases written upon them. Many were written by herself. She once used that wall as a memo pad, since no one cared whether she scribbled on it or not; besides her, no one else came to this rooftop anyway. She wrote many things and drew many things on that wall, including two terribly ugly figures. Even she couldn’t quite remember exactly what that drawing depicted, only that it was probably a story she created, its lines crude and rough.

She looked up at Miss Ah Qiao, sitting on the railing, and asked, “You seem very familiar with the Tao Family. Are you from the Tao Family?”

Miss Ah Qiao shook her head. “Although I’ve forgotten much of the past, I can confirm this one point: I am not from the Tao Family. Not only that, but I also have some vague memories hinting that my current state was caused by the Tao Family.”

“Finally willing to tell me about past events, are you?” Qi Ran smiled silently. “Is it because you saw my lake?”

Miss Ah Qiao didn’t deny it, nodding calmly and frankly.

“Tell me a bit more then. Why do I have to go find this so-called Miss Zuo you mentioned? What’s so special about her? How can she help us? Will she be willing to help us?” Qi Ran poured out her questions in rapid succession. “Jiang Zhique and Li Siwen—neither of them seem to have ever heard of a surname like Zuo. The only clue we got came from that spider and its keeper. Who exactly is this Miss Zuo you want me to find?”

“I can’t answer that question,” Miss Ah Qiao said softly. “It’s not that I don’t want to; it’s because—I don’t know the answer either.”

Qi Ran’s voice involuntarily rose. “You want me to go find a Miss Zuo, but you don’t even know what she’s actually for?”

Miss Ah Qiao nodded. “She’s important. Very important. Once she’s found, many long-arranged events will connect and start moving. That’s my intuition telling me. I’ve forgotten many things, but that feeling is remarkably clear, as clear as if it were carved into my skull.”

“Long-arranged events?” Qi Ran keenly picked up on this phrasing. “You have companions?”

“Yes, though that was a long time ago. As for the present…” Miss Ah Qiao hesitated slightly. “Although I can’t quite remember her appearance clearly, she—she’s always been very reliable, arranging everything perfectly. Once we find that Miss Zuo, the plan she prepared for me will definitely run smoothly, like a raft floating downstream.”

“Sounds like searching for a missing gear. Once it’s fitted in, the whole machine starts running.” Qi Ran quipped.

“A very apt metaphor.” Miss Ah Qiao said.

“So, you’re actually just as clueless as Jiang Zhique,” Qi Ran said.

Miss Ah Qiao didn’t speak.

Qi Ran tilted her head back, leaning against the base of the railing, and gazed up at the empty night sky. Only after a moment did she speak again: “…So in the end, everyone is just bluffing and pretending. Here I thought you all actually had cards in hand.”

Miss Ah Qiao understood her implication, looking down at her and blinking. “Not entirely bluffing, right? Although I have indeed forgotten many things, the cards in my hand are still far more numerous than yours, wouldn’t you say?”

As she looked down, her supple hair fell straight down. The smile on her fair cheek was one Qi Ran hadn’t seen before; her brows and eyes were curved, somewhat like a little fox in late autumn that had accidentally tumbled into Qi Ran’s gaze.

Qi Ran didn’t understand this smile at first. Only belatedly did she realize it probably hovered somewhere between slyness and triumph.

Her heartbeat suddenly skipped a beat, as if it were tightly clenched.

In truth, she never confused Tao Xiao with Miss Ah Qiao. The difference between them was anything but subtle. To use a familial analogy, Tao Xiao was more like a gentle, rational elder sister who was already working, while Miss Ah Qiao was a peer barely a year apart in age, eccentric and stubborn by nature. So, when Miss Ah Qiao used Tao Xiao’s appearance, Qi Rin always felt a little strange inside, like seeing a normally serious person suddenly flash a roguish, unprincipled grin. That personality dissonance helped her ignore that familiar face and focus only on the words Miss Ah Qiao spoke.

But the very moment Miss Ah Qiao lowered her head and revealed that smile, that ever-present sense of disconnect vanished, as if this face was always meant to show such an expression, and Tao Xiao’s perpetually gentle smile was the more abrupt one, the more unnatural one.

What exactly was the relationship between Miss Ah Qiao and Tao Xiao?

She dared not look further, dared not think deeper, averted her gaze, and stared at the hanging fine strands of hair, asking, “As you said before, as long as I can enter this place and find my own lake, it’ll be easier for me to search for that girl. How do I do it?”