Chapter 4

Xie Yun froze and quickly looked up at Chen Li.

Chen Li’s voice was low. In the darkness of the main room, it carried an indescribable steadiness, a sense of reassurance.

The moment Chen Li said, “Give her to me,” Xie Anqing’s head had already fallen back against her.

Her face was pressed close against Chen Li’s neck.

Xie Yun looked at Xie Anqing’s dry lips for a couple of seconds, then withdrew her hand and stood aside, yielding her to Chen Li.

Xie Yun knew who Chen Li was.

She and Xie Anqing had been working together these past few days, and Xie Anqing had told her in detail why she’d invited Chen Li and what she hoped to do next.

Xie Yun couldn’t have supported Xie Anqing’s plan more. Naturally, she had no reason to be wary of Chen Li, whom Xie Anqing had personally invited.

Clutching her shoulder, Xie Yun stepped back and watched as Chen Li lifted the five-foot-seven Xie Anqing with little effort, then hurried toward the stairs.

One of Xie Anqing’s arms hung at her side. Chen Li lifted the other over her shoulder, where it swung with every step.

Once, a particularly wide swing caught in Chen Li’s hair.

It was an unconscious movement and barely registered with Chen Li.

She turned slightly, concentrating as she carried Xie Anqing up the narrow, dim staircase.

Even so, she accidentally bumped Xie Anqing’s head against the wall at the turn.

There was a soft thunk. Chen Li immediately tightened her arms and adjusted her hold, raising the unresponsive Xie Anqing above the handrail.

The distance between them shrank at once.

Chen Li could hear the pulse beating beneath Xie Anqing’s neck and her feverish breathing, each breath hurried and hot as steam pouring from boiling water. It struck Chen Li’s jaw and neck, almost scorching her.

Chen Li quickened her pace. When they reached Xie Anqing’s bedroom, she pressed her elbow against the door handle.

The door swung open.

Chen Li kicked it wider and carried Xie Anqing inside, laying her on the bed.

The light was off, but the window was open. Moonlight spilled in from the sky, half of it falling across the desk beneath the window and half of it across Xie Anqing. After pulling her arms from beneath Xie Anqing’s knees, Chen Li looked up and saw her long, uncolored hair spread over the pillow, damp at the roots and clumped together.

She looked nothing like Chen Li had expected.

She must have felt awful.

Even her brow, usually too composed to show worry, was tightly furrowed. A faint red mark showed at her right temple, near the hairline.

Chen Li stood by the bed for a while. She pushed the flute on the edge of the desk farther in so it wouldn’t fall if someone bumped it. Then she bent her index finger and brushed the red mark with the back of her knuckle, making up for the bump on the stairs.

Xie Yun and Xie Huaixia came upstairs a little later.

Xie Yun quickly thanked Chen Li, then took a hair dryer and went to tend to Xie Anqing.

Xie Huaixia kicked off her shoes and climbed onto the bed, carefully holding her aunt’s hair while her mother dried it.

The small room filled with the steady whir of the hair dryer.

When Xie Xiumei arrived, she immediately lifted the worried Xie Huaixia off the bed and set her aside. Then she unbuttoned Xie Anqing’s shirt and took her temperature.

Chen Li leaned against the wall. As Xie Xiumei turned, Chen Li’s gaze abruptly caught the faint outline of Xie Anqing’s breasts through the opening of her shirt. Her fingers pressed lightly against her arm as she turned her face away.

The room fell quiet.

Xie Yun was anxious, and Xie Xiumei had been checking Xie Anqing for a while without saying anything. In the end, Xie Yun asked, “Sister, what’s wrong with Anqing?”

Xie Xiumei was furious from the first word. “What do you think? She’s had a fever of 104 degrees for two days straight. It’s a miracle she hasn’t burned herself to death!”

Xie Yun stared at her. “A fever that long?”

“Two days and one night. What do you think?”

Xie Yun was too shocked to answer.

Xie Huaixia huddled beside her mother, tears in her eyes. “Auntie, you’re being mean.”

Xie Xiumei put her hands on her hips and gave a cold laugh. “If I weren’t mean, you and your little aunt would’ve died who knows how many times by now.”

“Tell me, Xie Yun, are you and Xie Anqing the only two people alive on the Village Two Committees? Why do you always have to rush into everything yourselves?”

“During the floods two years ago, she was almost swept away. You went to save her and cracked your head open.”

“Last year, during the village toilet renovations, she got sick from methane poisoning. You tripped and fell into the pit, and you weren’t much better off.”

“And this year’s even better. She ate something bad and had diarrhea until she came down with a high fever, while you nearly got your arm smashed by a rock and still insisted on staying on the job. You two really are childhood friends through and through! I wake up every day and find you’ve both got yourselves into trouble again!”

Every word Xie Xiumei said was true, and she was only saying it because she was worried. Xie Yun couldn’t bring herself to argue. She only latched on to the important question. “The village office canteen has been bringing us food for the past few days. We’ve all eaten the same thing. Why was Anqing the only one who got diarrhea?”

Xie Xiumei checked the thermometer and looked angry enough to hit someone. “How should I know?”

Xie Yun knew better than to say anything else.

A tense atmosphere and the smell of alcohol quickly spread through the room.

Chen Li had been staring out the window. Now she leaned her shoulder against the wall and turned around. “She ate a meal I made.”

Chen Li’s voice sounded out of place. As soon as she spoke, everyone turned to look at her.

She explained, “It was an accident.”

“What kind of accident?” Xie Xiumei asked.

Before Chen Li could answer, Xie Huaixia interrupted. “I remember! You fed my little aunt dog food!”

“…What?” Xie Xiumei said.

“Dog food?” Xie Yun echoed.

“Dog food, dog food! The kind you give Guoqing!”

Xie Yun went silent.

Chen Li tried to explain again. “I didn’t mean to. I only served it too late.”

Xie Xiumei felt as if she’d suddenly stopped understanding human speech. Or maybe this whole bunch was so useless that she couldn’t make sense of anything they said. She cleared the air from the IV line, bent over, and grasped Xie Anqing’s fingers. Then she gave the back of the hand—already marked with two needle punctures—a hard jab.

A low mm came from the bed. Xie Anqing’s brow furrowed.

“I thought you couldn’t feel pain,” Xie Xiumei said irritably.

Xie Yun looked as if she wanted to speak, her face twisted with concern.

Once Xie Anqing was settled, Xie Xiumei left with a cold expression.

Xie Huaixia had slept all day and was wide awake at night. She ran downstairs to fetch a basin of cold water, then hurried back with a towel over one shoulder and a kettle of hot water in her hand.

“Mom, go home and get some sleep. I’ll look after my little aunt.”

Xie Yun had been going nonstop for days and was truly exhausted. After checking several times that Xie Anqing was all right, she told her daughter, “Call me when your little aunt’s IV is almost finished.”

Before Xie Xiumei left, she’d warned them, “Since you two never take care of yourselves, you can pull your own IV needles out.”

Xie Anqing could probably remove the needle herself, but she looked in no condition to wake up anytime soon. Xie Yun would have to handle it.

Xie Huaixia nodded over and over. “Okay! I know! Don’t worry, Mom!”

Xie Yun rubbed her shoulder and left. Chen Li sat beneath the northern walkway, and she heard Xie Yun’s footsteps fade as she went downstairs.

Chen Li crossed her legs. One hand rested at an angle on her flat stomach; the other held a fallen jasmine blossom. She flicked it lightly with her fingers, and it dropped onto her skirt.

Her skirt lay over a branch reaching into the walkway. When the wind moved the branch, her skirt moved, too. Pale, shifting moonlight illuminated every quiet movement.

Before long, a light came on at Xie Yun’s house next door.

Chen Li lifted her skirt off the branch. The jasmine rolled away as she stood and went back to her own room.

Chen Li’s bed was beneath the south window. Xie Anqing’s was to the north, at the opposite end of the room. Once Chen Li closed the door, Xie Huaixia’s chatter grew faint.

But it didn’t disappear completely.

“Auntie, does it hurt a lot?”

“Does your stomach hurt?”

“Your hand must hurt, too. It’s bruised all over…”

Chen Li changed into her pajamas and lay on her side. The room was quiet. Moonlight gradually broke through the clouds and slanted in, creeping over her waist before falling across her face.

It was too bright.

The light chased away Chen Li’s sleepiness, and she got out of bed.

She wasn’t wearing shoes. Xie Huaixia had stopped chattering in Xie Anqing’s room, and the only sounds in Dongxie Village at one in the morning were a few scattered crickets.

Chen Li stood outside Xie Anqing’s door for a while, then pushed it open.

The window beside Xie Anqing’s bed was still open. The night breeze brought the scent of plants and trees inside, almost completely masking the smell of medicine.

Xie Huaixia, who’d promised to look after her aunt, had long since curled up asleep at the foot of the bed. Perhaps she was dreaming of chicken legs. She smacked her lips after chewing on her hand.

Chen Li walked to the bed and looked down at Xie Anqing, whose fever was beginning to break.

Her face was very pale. Sweat poured out of her, and within a minute or two, six drops had already rolled from her forehead and neck.

No one liked feeling damp and sticky.

Chen Li picked up the wet towel from the back of the chair and sat at the bedside. Out of habit, she crossed her legs, rested her right elbow on her knee, and propped one cheek on her hand. Then she raised her left hand almost absently and wiped the sweat from Xie Anqing’s forehead.

Then her temples, the tip of her nose, and the groove above her lip…

Her movements were lazy and awkward. It was obvious she’d never taken care of anyone before.

When she wiped Xie Anqing’s neck, a hand suddenly closed around her wrist. The woman who should have been asleep opened her eyes and stared at her.

The moonlight couldn’t reach Xie Anqing’s eyes because the windowsill blocked it. Her pupils seemed even darker for it, blacker than the quietest night in Dongxie Village. The darkness wouldn’t lift or fade. It fixed on Chen Li.

And so did the hand gripping her wrist.

Chen Li gradually felt the pressure bite into the bone, but Xie Anqing showed no sign of letting go. It was as if she were afraid Chen Li would drop the towel onto her neck again.

But who had leaned against Chen Li’s neck not long ago?

Rules for thee, but not for me.

Chen Li straightened and leaned over Xie Anqing, looking down at her. “Secretary Xie, the IV’s backing up. Doesn’t your hand hurt?”

Xie Anqing’s gaze shifted. Her eyelids grew heavy again. The moment they closed, she fell back into a deep sleep. Her hand loosened around Chen Li’s wrist, leaving a clear red mark.

Chen Li lowered her gaze, gave a quiet click of her tongue, and tossed the towel back where it had been.

After that, she only sat beside the bed and stared at the IV bag.

At the foot of the bed, Xie Huaixia slept more and more soundly. She showed no sign of waking.

At two in the morning, the IV was nearly finished.

Chen Li got up, went to the foot of the bed, and poked Xie Huaixia’s chubby cheek with her index finger. “Wake up. Your aunt’s IV is almost done.”

Xie Huaixia sleepily hugged her head, curled herself into a ball, and ignored Chen Li.

Chen Li had to poke her somewhere else, so she prodded Xie Huaixia’s bottom. “When the IV’s done, someone has to take the needle out.”

This time, Xie Huaixia seemed to hear her. She kept her head buried and said, “You do it.”

“I can’t.”

Chen Li poked her head again.

Unable to stand it anymore, Xie Huaixia sat bolt upright and glared at her. “You fed my little aunt dog food and made her this sick. Why won’t you take the needle out for her?”

Chen Li was so startled by the scolding that she took a moment to react. She remained bent over and blinked slowly. “It’s not that I won’t. She won’t let me touch her.”